I have to say that I never got caught up in the Splatoon hype. I thought it was too much like a kid’s game, and when you’re middle aged and can’t get away from that fact, you just think that the safest thing is to run away and let the children play with these games. Sometimes though, especially when you are a reviewer, you have no real choice to this fact, so I got Crayola Scoot in my lap. I did get a bit of optimism though, considering it is made from industry veterans Climax Games, who although they had some hit and miss titles, they were relatively safe hands to have handle a game.

Crayola Scoot is a cross between the Splatoon and Tony Hawks franchises, and in my head, I was pretty much writing it off. Then I started playing it and it came as a surprise to me just how much I got involved in it.

Gameplay 7/10

The game is split into three worlds, each containing four arenas. The twelve playable maps are pretty decent and surprisingly don’t feel all that repetitive. What also helps are the different styles of gameplay that are playable early on. A lot of these involve colour coverage (I’d say paint, but I have to look at it from a crayon perspective) You can have a score attack, competing yourself against AI or human opponents, “Crazy Crayon” which has you darting around the map grabbing a randomly spawning crayon and being the first to 5, a kid version of “HORSE”, using the word scoot instead. The clever thing is that every challenge you come up against has a difficulty selector, so that everyone from kids to adults can get stuck in whenever they want.

As well as all this, you have the ore traditional elements of a game of this ilk. You can level up, unlock items to buy for your setup, clothing or scooter wise, and you can have a section to practice your skill moves, either on the main map or in a wind tunnel that you normally see people who parachute practice in. My only gripe is that I feel there should be an online multiplayer and can’t see why this isn’t in, especially at the price point. However, with it being primarily a game for kids, I would imagine it doesn’t need to be a big thing. It will totally determine on how you perceive it.

The puns come as standard. Get used to them.

Graphics - 7/10

Well, it is certainly colourful, there’s no denying that. I’m not a fan of cel shaded graphics, unless it is done right. It isn’t necessarily done in a way I’m a fan of, but again you have to look at it through the eyes of someone much younger playing it. It is really good to look at from a palette perspective. It’s very bright and colour enriched. All of the splats are pretty much in your face and it has a fun look about it. I can’t say it looks terrible, mainly because it doesn’t, but it is only from a personal perspective that I’m not overly keen on it. I’d rather have either pixelated or cel shaded that doesn’t look more synthetic than cartoon. This just doesn’t quite have that kind of impact, but it’ll please the majority, I’d imagine.

Sound - 7/10

The music is catchy and the sound effects do what you would expect them to. Your character says very little, other than your usual grunts and groans if they fall off, but you’ll get addicted to the little tunes that play throughout. I could personally do with more of them to add a bit more variety, but I’d think that won’t really bother a 6 year old playing it. Not a Halo composed masterpiece, but it doesn’t need to be, does it? It definitely does the job it needs to and nothing feels out of place.

Splatoon called. They want their paint back.......

Difficulty - 8/10

Nicely balanced. There are three difficulties in the game at every level. Easy, normal and difficult are there to probably help children of all ages. It can also help those kids in their 40’s get a bit of a challenge should they want to get a moral victory over their real children. It has a nice learning curve and you do get that nice feeling of being able to access everything quickly enough, but you also know it will take a long time to master everything, especially if you shove it up to the maximum hardness and have a blast on it. I’m a wimp though, so I will not be taking that leap, especially when I can’t really get those controls down just yet.

Achievements - 7/10

It does what it needs to and has them churning out at the right time, especially for a game aimed for the younger audience. Standard level up ones, beating legend ones, even those achievements where you grind for so many metres and then see that little green line appear with that trophy you’ve been chasing. They do what you need them to and don’t see too unattainable, so you’ll not really go far wrong if you’re aiming to boost your gamerscore quickly.

Looks like a health and safety nightmare

Summary

I do like Crayola Scoot, and that surprises me. All the first impressions had me thinking this would be a steaming pile of boring old dross, but it proved me wrong. If it wasn’t for the control system maybe needing a little tweak here and there, I’d be getting properly addicted to it, but I do sometimes feel it a struggle to get all the movement down in a fluid skill combo. I do also think that there could maybe have been a little more in terms of content for the price. Perhaps two more worlds with another 4 arenas in each would make it fit in with what most people expect in a day one release. I’m sure there will be more as the time goes on through DLC, but I do feel a little shallow offering here.

Other than that though, I find Crayola Scoot quite and enjoyable little game to play. If you have a family of kids who are a pain without something to do on a sleepover or you want something to shove on the Xbox with your son/daughter for some quality time together then I could think of a lot worse.

Oh, and you can also allow your inner child to sneak an hour in as well. You have my permission.

DJ TapouT, A.K.A Luke Bryant, is the Public Relations Manager for Xbox Resource and x2i's Right Hand Man in running the site.
Luke's role aside fro... See More

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